There's a lot that I could write about idle hands. You know that saying, idle hands are the devil's tools, or whatever the saying is. I find that to be mostly true and particularly relevant to human trafficking. But right now I'm not going to go into that. Instead I'm going to take a more circuitous route and talk about how wasting our time with ridiculous things harms the fight against human trafficking.
For if you have idle hands, you probably aren't using your time wisely. This is something that I know a whole lot about, especially recently. Fortunately I don't think that I do a whole lot of mischief in any form when I have idle hands. I do, however, play a lot of stupid on-line games when I have idle hands. That and I read a lot about sports. Of course there are times in our life when we need to unwind and calm ourselves, at which time playing games and reading about or following sports can be healthy, if not downright necessary. At what point, though, do our idle hands grow addicted to such mindless activity?
I don't have the answer to that question. All I know is that it's a necessary question: when our idle hands addict us to mindless, useless activities (80% of what we do on Facebook, Pinterest, ESPN, etc. is mindless and absolutely useless), we quite obviously will have less time to do something productive. By "productive" I don't necessarily mean that anything tangibly productive is happening. Productive activities can include reading the news (real news, not ESPN) or surfing the Internet (on useful websites like Polaris Project or IJM) or chatting up a friend (friends in Congress especially). Doing any one of these activities can be productive in many ways. In terms of human trafficking, these activities can be productive in keeping ourselves aware of the latest updates on our journey to eradicating the world of slavery. And I don't know how often I have to say it, even to myself, but awareness of what's going on is a major first step. G.I. Joe knew what he was talking about. All we have to do is transfer our mindless addictions to mindless productivity. It doesn't take that much energy to read or chat.
I'm as much to blame as anyone. I have never been all that good at keeping up with human trafficking bills before Congress, news stories, or recent investigations into human trafficking. Lately I have been particularly bad about it, though, as my idle hands have diverted much of my time and energy into the most useless and lazy life I can imagine. When there are people out there needing our help, I and we can't let such things happen to us. There are simple, productive, and much needed things that we can be doing to bring us closer to total liberation.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Facebook Page
In the interest of gaining wider support for the book, and thus wider support for the ending of human trafficking in our world, I have created a Facebook page for 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves. Go to your Facebook and like the page (facebook.com/27millionrevolutions) to do your part.
And if you haven't already bought the book and gotten the full experience, you can go to Amazon and rectify that situation. I promise the book is far more insightful, provocative, powerful, and even more funny, than this blog has ever been. Obviously I wrote the book, but I honestly believe that all of us would be better off if we read 27 Million Revolutions. Let's all stop being lazy and read a book for a change!
And if you haven't already bought the book and gotten the full experience, you can go to Amazon and rectify that situation. I promise the book is far more insightful, provocative, powerful, and even more funny, than this blog has ever been. Obviously I wrote the book, but I honestly believe that all of us would be better off if we read 27 Million Revolutions. Let's all stop being lazy and read a book for a change!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Mutual Aid
Before and during my bike trip it seemed as if I were the only person who knew anything much about human trafficking. It was amazing to me how many people didn't even know slavery exists still in the world. Yet now, especially since publishing the book based on this blog (available here: 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves), it's amazing to me how many people that I run into that either know more about the subject or ask me about books or films or shows that feature human trafficking that I have never heard of.
On one hand, I am embarrassed: shouldn't I, the author of a book on human trafficking, know more about human trafficking than most people? To some extent I'm not entirely embarrassed, because, as a writer, once you finish a project it's hard to still think about it. If I were a social justice advocate first and a writer second, then maybe it would be all good, but I'm a writer first who happens to also be super passionate about securing freedom for all, so I still react to the publishing of my book like a writer. Oh well.
On the other hand, I acknowledge one of the means of fighting human trafficking that I've talked about on this blog and especially in the book: we must help one another. We cannot ever remain confident in our own self-righteousness and instead receive help from others and encourage each other to read, see, and get involved in new anti-trafficking experiences. Indeed, it's been a blessing having my book be a catalyst for discussion... to hear how much more other people have already read and thought about slavery than I have. It encourages me to continue to be active and not let my mostly-normal reaction to publishing 27 Million Revolutions be permanent. I must get off the couch again to keep my eyes and ears open. Slavery is still around us, all around me, and just because I published a book that may or may not be helpful to others and to the 27 million slaves out there doesn't mean that I can take a break. Slavery doesn't take a break and neither can I.
What's also been good about the experience of hearing the knowledge and experiences of others is that I need not feel wholly guilty for taking my mind off of slavery for a little while. One definition of mutual aid is that we support and encourage one another; yet another definition is that we all work toward freedom so that, if one of us needs to take a break, they can.
Thank you to all those who have reminded me of the importance of mutual aid in ending slavery. Thank you, because now I can, after a long hiatus, say: Let's all keep our ears and eyes open, support and encourage one another, discuss the evil of slavery whenever possible, and together we can do great things.
On one hand, I am embarrassed: shouldn't I, the author of a book on human trafficking, know more about human trafficking than most people? To some extent I'm not entirely embarrassed, because, as a writer, once you finish a project it's hard to still think about it. If I were a social justice advocate first and a writer second, then maybe it would be all good, but I'm a writer first who happens to also be super passionate about securing freedom for all, so I still react to the publishing of my book like a writer. Oh well.
On the other hand, I acknowledge one of the means of fighting human trafficking that I've talked about on this blog and especially in the book: we must help one another. We cannot ever remain confident in our own self-righteousness and instead receive help from others and encourage each other to read, see, and get involved in new anti-trafficking experiences. Indeed, it's been a blessing having my book be a catalyst for discussion... to hear how much more other people have already read and thought about slavery than I have. It encourages me to continue to be active and not let my mostly-normal reaction to publishing 27 Million Revolutions be permanent. I must get off the couch again to keep my eyes and ears open. Slavery is still around us, all around me, and just because I published a book that may or may not be helpful to others and to the 27 million slaves out there doesn't mean that I can take a break. Slavery doesn't take a break and neither can I.
What's also been good about the experience of hearing the knowledge and experiences of others is that I need not feel wholly guilty for taking my mind off of slavery for a little while. One definition of mutual aid is that we support and encourage one another; yet another definition is that we all work toward freedom so that, if one of us needs to take a break, they can.
Thank you to all those who have reminded me of the importance of mutual aid in ending slavery. Thank you, because now I can, after a long hiatus, say: Let's all keep our ears and eyes open, support and encourage one another, discuss the evil of slavery whenever possible, and together we can do great things.
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